Detection Equipment

Abstract

To provide a detection apparatus capable of improving detection accuracy of a user operation.SOLUTION: A detection apparatus 1 comprises: a frame 3 at least partially made of metal; a plurality of electrodes 14 for detecting a user operation (touch operation) on an operation surface 2 at least partially in contact with the frame 3; and a computing unit 16 for computing an operation position of the user operation based on a change in capacitance of the electrode 14. The computing unit 16 detects which area E of areas E divided into a plurality of sections on the operation surface 2 has been operated by a user. At this time, the computing unit 16 converts calculated coordinates P1 obtained by calculation from the change in capacitance into corrected coordinates Pk away from an area boundary, and uses the corrected coordinates Pk as the operation position of the user operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a detection device that detects a user operation based on a change in capacitance of an electrode. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a detection device that detects a touch operation on a touchpad by a person using a capacitance-type electrostatic sensor is well known (see Patent Document 1). The detection device of Patent Document 1 detects a touch operation on the operation surface of the touchpad by detecting a trajectory traced by a finger touching the operation surface of the touchpad as a coordinate movement. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-115011 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, the periphery of a touchpad may be decorated with plating or the like. However, in the case of this structure, when a human body touches the plating when touching the touchpad, a change in capacitance occurs in the electrode due to the plating, and there is a possibility that the touch operation cannot be detected correctly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The detection device for solving the above problem includes a frame at least partially made of metal, a plurality of electrodes provided in a coordinate plane direction of an operation surface at least partially in contact with the frame, the electrodes detecting a user operation in which the user's body touches or approaches the operation surface, and a calculation unit that calculates an operation position of the user operation on the operation surface based on a capacitance change of the electrodes. When the operation surface is divided into a plurality of areas, the calculation unit converts the calculation coordinates obtained by the calculation from the capacitance change into corrected coordinates away from area boundaries, and sets the corrected coordinates as the operation position of the user operation. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the accuracy of detecting a user operation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the detection device. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the areas of the operation surface and selections on the screen. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a coordinate diagram showing the relationship between the electrode arrangement in the detection device and the coordinate system of the operation surface. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state where an operation surface is touched; [Figure 6] 1 is a graph showing the change in capacitance in each electrode. [Figure 7] 11 is a coordinate diagram showing a specific example when converting calculation coordinates into correction coordinates. FIG. [Figure 8] 11 is a graph showing a specific example of conversion information. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] An embodiment of the detection device will now be described. [Overall configuration of detection device 1] As shown in FIG. 1, the detection device 1 includes an operation surface 2 operated by a user and a frame 3 at least partially made of metal. At least a portion of the operation surface 2 contacts the frame 3. The detection device 1 is a touch detection device that detects an operation (user operation) of touching or approaching the operation surface 2 with the user's body. The detection device 1 is, for example, a touch pad. When the detection device 1 is mounted on a vehicle, it is preferable that the attachment location 4 of the detection device 1 is, for example, a steering wheel 5. The operation surface 2 has an XY-axis plane with mutually orthogonal X-axis and Y-axis as coordinate axes. It is preferable that the operation surface 2 is planar.

[0009] The frame 3 is decorated by, for example, plating. The plating is applied to the surface of the frame 3. The frame 3 is formed in a ring shape. That is, the frame 3 is shaped to surround the periphery of the operation surface 2 without any gaps. The frame 3 is preferably formed in, for example, a rectangular ring shape.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 2, the detection device 1 is a device that detects an input operation when selecting one of a plurality of options 10 displayed on a screen 9 of a display unit 8. In this example, the operation method of the operation surface 2 is a cross button (cross key) with the operation direction being a cross direction. That is, by operating the operation surface 2 in any of the cross directions, one of the options 10 displayed on the display unit 8 is selected. When the operation surface 2 is operated, the cursor 11 displayed on the display unit 8 moves to the touch selection destination. The display unit 8 is, for example, a multi-information display provided on an instrument panel, a display of a car navigation device inside a car, or the like.

[0011] The operation surface 2 is divided into a plurality of areas E, and each area E is associated with a selection 10. The plurality of areas E includes a central area Ea disposed at the center of the operation surface 2, and a plurality of operation areas Eb arranged in the circumferential direction so as to surround the periphery of the central area Ea. In this example, four operation areas Eb are provided, which are designated as a first area E1, a second area E2, a third area E3, and a fourth area E4. The central area Ea is designated as a fifth area E5. Thus, there are five areas E in this example, the first area E1, the second area E2, the third area E3, the fourth area E4, and the fifth area E5.

[0012] In this example, the first area E1 to the fourth area E4 of the area E correspond to the selections A to D of the display unit 8, and the center of the screen where there is no selection 10 corresponds to the fifth area E5. That is, the first area E1 corresponds to the selection A, the second area E2 corresponds to the selection B, the third area E3 corresponds to the selection C, and the fourth area E4 corresponds to the selection D. The fifth area E5 corresponds to the center position of the display unit 8, that is, the home position where none of the selections A to D are selected.

[0013] [Electrical configuration of detection device 1] As shown in FIG. 3, the detection device 1 includes electrodes 14 for detecting a user operation on the operation surface 2. In this example, the detection device 1 is a resistive film type in which a plurality of planar electrodes 14 are arranged. A plurality of electrodes 14 are provided in the coordinate plane direction of the operation surface 2 (the XY-axis plane direction in FIG. 3). Each of the electrodes 14 is associated with an area E of the operation surface 2. Specifically, the electrodes 14 include a first electrode 14a corresponding to the first area E1, a second electrode 14b corresponding to the second area E2, a third electrode 14c corresponding to the third area E3, a fourth electrode 14d corresponding to the fourth area E4, and a fifth electrode 14e corresponding to the fifth area E5.

[0014] The first electrode 14a is disposed below the first area E1 of the operation surface 2, and thus has the same area shape as the first area E1. The first electrode 14a is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape. The second electrode 14b to the fourth electrode 14d also have the same structure as the first electrode 14a. The fifth electrode 14e is disposed below the fifth area E5, and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape.

[0015] The detection device 1 includes a calculation unit 16 that calculates an operation position (operation coordinates) of a user operation on the operation surface 2 based on a capacitance change of the electrodes 14. The calculation unit 16 determines which area E of the operation surface 2, which is partitioned into a plurality of areas E, has been operated by the user based on the capacitance change of the electrodes 14. The calculation unit 16 determines the operation position of the user operation, for example, by substituting the capacitance detected at each of the electrodes 14 into a specified arithmetic expression and performing a calculation.

[0016] [About touch operation position correction] 3, when the operation surface 2 is divided into a plurality of areas E, the calculation unit 16 converts the calculation coordinate P1 calculated from the capacitance change into a corrected coordinate Pk away from the area boundary, and sets the corrected coordinate Pk as the operation position of the user operation. The calculation unit 16 corrects the calculation coordinate P1 by coordinate conversion that draws the calculation coordinate P1 into the center position of the area E operated by the user.

[0017] Next, the operation of the detection device 1 of this embodiment will be described. [How to calculate the operation position (touch position)] FIG. 4 illustrates the relationship between the electrode arrangement in the detection device 1 and the coordinate system of the operation surface 2. As shown in the figure, when the operation surface 2 is touched, the calculation unit 16 calculates a calculation coordinate P1 of the touch operation using the electrostatic capacitance detected from the first electrode 14a to the fifth electrode 14e at this time. The calculation coordinate P1 is preferably, for example, a center of gravity coordinate. In this case, (x, y) of the calculation coordinate P1 is calculated by a first calculation formula K1 and a second calculation formula K2. Note that in the first calculation formula K1 and the second calculation formula K2, "ΔC n " is the capacitance difference value of electrode n, and "an " is the X-coordinate calculation coefficient of electrode n, and "b n " is the Y coordinate calculation coefficient for electrode n.

[0018]

number

[0019] [How to correct calculation coordinate P1] 5, for example, it is assumed that the user touches the second area E2 of the operation surface 2. In the example shown in the figure, it is assumed that only the second area E2 is touched and the other areas E are not touched. When only the second area E2 is touched, normally, only the capacitance of the second electrode 14b should change.

[0020] 6, even if the user touches only the second area E2, the other electrodes 14 that are not touched also change in capacitance due to the influence of the frame 3 that exists around the operation surface 2. In the example shown in the figure, even though the second area E2 is touched, the first electrode 14a and the third to fifth electrodes 14c to 14e also change in capacitance due to the influence of the frame 3. That is, not only the second electrode 14b that is touched, but also the other electrodes 14 change in capacitance due to the frame 3.

[0021] For this reason, as shown in Fig. 7, the calculated coordinates P1 obtained by calculation may not be the actual touch position, but may be a different position. In the example shown in Fig. 7, the second area E2 should have been touched, but the calculation result shows that the fifth area E5 has been touched. In this way, there is a possibility that the touch position may be erroneously determined.

[0022] 8, the calculation unit 16 executes coordinate conversion to draw the calculated coordinate P1 obtained by the first calculation formula K1 and the second calculation formula K2 into the center position of the area E (here, the second area E2) operated by the user, and corrects the calculated coordinate P1 to a corrected coordinate Pk. In this example, the calculation unit 16 corrects the calculated coordinate P1 by referring to conversion information Dm in which is written what value the coordinate before correction is converted to for correction. The conversion information Dm may be, for example, either a map or a conversion formula.

[0023] In this example, the calculation unit 16 corrects each of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 using the conversion information Dm. Specifically, the calculation unit 16 corrects the X coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 using the conversion information Dm. For example, if the X coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 is "xa", it is corrected to "xa'", which is a coordinate value close to the user's operation position, by the conversion information Dm. Similarly, the Y coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 is also corrected. Then, the calculation unit 16 sets the corrected coordinate (x, y) as the operation position of the user's operation.

[0024] The detection device 1 positions the cursor 11 on the screen 9 at a position corresponding to the corrected coordinates (x, y). Furthermore, when the corrected coordinates (x, y), i.e., the cursor 11, coincides with a selection 10 (selections A to D) on the screen 9, the detection device 1 transitions the selection 10 to a selection confirmation state. In this way, of the multiple selections 10 on the screen 9, the one corresponding to the user operation (touch operation) on the operation surface 2 is determined to be the selection target.

[0025] [effect] According to the detection device 1 of the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The detection device 1 includes a frame 3 at least partially made of metal, electrodes 14 that detect a user operation of bringing a user's body into contact with or close to an operation surface 2 at least partially in contact with the frame 3, and a calculation unit 16 that calculates an operation position of the user operation on the operation surface 2 based on a capacitance change of the electrodes 14. A plurality of electrodes 14 are provided in a coordinate plane direction of the operation surface 2 surrounded by the frame 3. When the operation surface 2 is divided into a plurality of areas E, the calculation unit 16 converts a calculation coordinate P1 calculated from the capacitance change into a corrected coordinate Pk away from the area boundary, and sets the corrected coordinate Pk as the operation position of the user operation.

[0026] According to this configuration, when a user performs a user operation of touching or approaching the operation surface 2, even if a calculated coordinate P1 different from the original operation position is obtained due to the influence of the frame 3 surrounding the operation surface 2, this calculated coordinate P1 is converted into a corrected coordinate Pk to detect the user operation. Therefore, instead of determining the calculated coordinate P1 affected by the frame 3 as the operation position of the user operation, it is possible to determine a position close to the original operation position of the user as the operation position. This improves the detection accuracy of the user operation.

[0027] (2) The calculation unit 16 determines in which area E of the operation surface 2, which is divided into a plurality of areas E, the user operation has been performed. With this configuration, it is possible to accurately detect which area E of the plurality of areas E of the operation surface 2 has been operated by the user.

[0028] (3) The operation surface 2 has an XY-axis plane with mutually orthogonal X-axis and Y-axis as coordinate axes. The calculation unit 16 calculates the X coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 by a first calculation formula K1 in which a weight is assigned to the capacitance having a high contribution in the X-axis direction of the XY-axis plane, and calculates the Y coordinate of the calculation coordinate P1 by a second calculation formula K2 in which a weight is assigned to the capacitance having a high contribution in the Y-axis direction of the XY-axis plane. With this configuration, when the calculation coordinate P1 is calculated by the first calculation formula K1 and the second calculation formula K2, even if a coordinate position different from the actual operation position is calculated due to the influence of the frame 3 around the operation surface 2, it is possible to correct this coordinate position. Therefore, the calculation coordinate P1 of (X, Y) can be calculated as a coordinate close to the actual operation position of the user while using the conventional calculation method.

[0029] (4) The calculation unit 16 obtains the corrected coordinate Pk by coordinate transformation that draws the calculated coordinate P1 to the center position of the area E where the user operation was performed. With this configuration, the calculated coordinate P1 is corrected to the center position of the area E, so that the calculated coordinate P1 can be transformed to a position where the area division is clear. This further contributes to improving the accuracy of position detection of the user operation.

[0030] (5) The multiple areas E include a central area Ea disposed at the center of the operation surface 2, and multiple operation areas Eb arranged in the circumferential direction so as to surround the central area Ea. With this configuration, the operation surface 2 can be made into a switch in the form of a cross button that can be operated in four directions, up, down, left, and right.

[0031] (6) The frame 3 is formed in a ring shape. With this configuration, even if the frame 3 is formed in a ring shape so as to surround the periphery of the operation surface 2 and has a good appearance, the operation position of the user operation is obtained by correcting the calculation coordinate P1, so that the detection accuracy of the user operation is not deteriorated.

[0032] [Variations] This embodiment can be modified as follows: This embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other to the extent that no technical contradiction occurs.

[0033] The shape of the frame 3 is not limited to annular, and may be, for example, partially slit. The frame 3 may be formed only in a part around the operation surface 2. In other words, the frame 3 may have a shape that contacts a part of the operation surface 2. For example, the frame 3 may be shaped like the character "L", and the tip of the frame may be structured to contact the operation surface 2.

[0034] The frame 3 is not limited to being made entirely of metal. For example, it may be a resin frame that has been plated for decoration. In this way, it is sufficient for at least a portion of the frame 3 to be made of metal.

[0035] The destination of the calculation coordinate P1, that is, the correction coordinate Pk, is not limited to the center position (near the center) of the area E. For example, it may be any location where the position can be clearly determined, such as the edge of the area E.

[0036] The detection device 1 is not limited to a device that performs area determination, and may be, for example, a device that detects the operation position itself (operation coordinates itself) of a user operation. The detection device 1 (operation detection device) is not limited to a touch pad, and may be, for example, a touch panel.

[0037] The detection device 1 is not limited to being mounted on a vehicle, but may be used in other devices or systems. The computing unit 16 may be configured by [1] one or more processors that operate according to a computer program (software), or [2] a combination of such a processor and one or more dedicated hardware circuits, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), that executes at least some of the various processes. The processor includes a CPU and memory, such as RAM and ROM, that stores program code or instructions configured to cause the CPU to execute the processes. The memory (computer-readable medium) includes any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or dedicated computer. Alternatively, instead of a computer that includes the above processor, a processing circuit configured by one or more dedicated hardware circuits that execute all of the various processes may be used.

[0038] The calculation unit 16 may be configured with an independent processor, or may be configured with a processor that shares some of its functions. In this way, the calculation unit 16 is not limited to being configured with an independent functional block, and may be configured with one functional block, or may be configured with a functional block that shares some of its functions.

[0039] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiment, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment or structure. The present disclosure also includes various modifications and modifications within the scope of equivalents. In addition, various combinations and forms, as well as other combinations and forms including only one element, more than one element, or less than one element, are also within the scope and concept of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1...detection device, 2...operation surface, 3...frame, 14...electrode, 16...calculation unit, E...area, Ea...central area, Eb...operation area, P1...calculation coordinate, Pk...correction coordinate, K1...first calculation formula, K2...second calculation formula.

Claims

1. a frame at least partially made of metal; a plurality of electrodes provided in a coordinate plane direction of an operation surface at least partially in contact with the frame, the electrodes detecting a user operation of bringing a user's body into contact with or approaching the operation surface; a calculation unit that calculates an operation position of the user operation on the operation surface based on a change in electrostatic capacitance of the electrode, When the operation surface is divided into a plurality of areas, the calculation unit converts the calculation coordinates obtained by the calculation from the capacitance change into corrected coordinates away from the area boundaries, and sets the corrected coordinates as the operation position of the user operation.

2. The calculation unit determines in which area of ​​the operation surface, which is divided into a plurality of areas, the user operation is performed. The detection device according to claim 1 .

3. the operation surface has an XY plane with mutually orthogonal X-axis and Y-axis as coordinate axes, The calculation unit calculates an X coordinate of the calculation coordinates using a first calculation formula in which a weight is assigned to a capacitance having a high degree of contribution in an X-axis direction of the XY-axis plane, and calculates a Y coordinate of the calculation coordinates using a second calculation formula in which a weight is assigned to a capacitance having a high degree of contribution in a Y-axis direction of the XY-axis plane.

3. The detection device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The calculation unit obtains the corrected coordinates by a coordinate transformation that draws the calculated coordinates into a center position of the area in which the user operation is performed. A detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The plurality of areas includes a central area disposed at a central position of the operation surface, and a plurality of operation areas arranged in a circumferential direction so as to surround the periphery of the central area.

5. A detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The frame is formed in an annular shape. A detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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